Former South Australian Liberal leader David Speirs says party should consider placing the state division under federal control

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The suggestion comes as Mr Speirs' successor Vincent Tarzia tries to redirect focus towards Labor's pledge to fix the ramping crisis with ambulances spending a near-record number of hours on hospital ramps last month.

Transcript

00:00A former leader floating a federal intervention.

00:05I think a federal takeover, the arrival of some senior states people from the party's

00:13history coming on and taking over this party, I think that is something that ought to be

00:18seriously considered.

00:21David Spears says he raised the idea of placing the SA Liberals into federal administration

00:26before stepping down as state leader last month.

00:29I didn't push it that hard, but I said, is this possible, because I was seeing the party

00:34sort of stuck in a decision-making swamp really.

00:38I don't know where that suggestion's come from, I find that a laughable suggestion.

00:42But Mr Spears says he's concerned the Liberal state executive isn't making decisions in

00:47the best interests of the party, and has been pulled too far to the right.

00:52This push from, not even from a right-wing ideology, but more a populist ideology around

01:00right-wing issues.

01:01We're a broad church here in South Australia, and I think we do better and best as a party

01:07when we do consult with the more progressive wing and also the conservative wing of the

01:12party.

01:13While Mr Spears continues to publicly voice his concerns about the Liberals, his successor

01:18is trying to steer focus towards Labor's election promise to fix the ramping crisis.

01:23Last month, ambulances spent more than 5,200 hours on hospital ramps.

01:28That's the second highest figure since record-keeping began.

01:31Labor is not going to fix the ramping crisis.

01:34What Labor has done is they've found a crisis and they've turned it into a disaster.

01:38There's no doubt that what we need is additional doctors, nurses and beds, and they are coming

01:43online.

01:44Including 130 extra beds in Adelaide South, set to open by the end of this year.

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